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1977 PGA Tour

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1977 PGA Tour season
DurationJanuary 6, 1977 (1977-01-06) – November 6, 1977 (1977-11-06)
Number of official events45
Most winsUnited States Tom Watson (5)
Money listUnited States Tom Watson
PGA Player of the YearUnited States Tom Watson
1976
1978

The 1977 PGA Tour was the 62nd season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was also the ninth season since separating from the PGA of America.

Schedule

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The following table lists official events during the 1977 season.[1]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(US$)
Winner(s)[a] Notes
Jan 9 Phoenix Open Arizona 200,000 United States Jerry Pate (3)
Jan 16 Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open Arizona 200,000 United States Bruce Lietzke (1)
Jan 23 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am California 200,000 United States Tom Watson (4) Pro-Am
Jan 30 Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational California 180,000 United States Tom Watson (5)
Feb 6 Hawaiian Open Hawaii 240,000 United States Bruce Lietzke (2)
Feb 13 Bob Hope Desert Classic California 200,000 United States Rik Massengale (3) Pro-Am
Feb 20 Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open California 200,000 United States Tom Purtzer (1)
Feb 27 Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic Florida 250,000 United States Jack Nicklaus (62)
Mar 7 Florida Citrus Open Florida 200,000 United States Gary Koch (2)
Mar 13 Doral-Eastern Open Florida 200,000 United States Andy Bean (1)
Mar 20 Tournament Players Championship Florida 300,000 United States Mark Hayes (3) Special event
Mar 27 Heritage Classic South Carolina 225,000 Australia Graham Marsh (1) Invitational
Apr 3 Greater Greensboro Open North Carolina 235,000 United States Danny Edwards (1)
Apr 10 Masters Tournament Georgia 280,477 United States Tom Watson (6) Major championship
Apr 10 Magnolia Classic Mississippi 35,000 United States Mike McCullough (n/a) Second Tour[b]
Apr 17 MONY Tournament of Champions California 225,000 United States Jack Nicklaus (63) Winners-only event
Apr 17 Tallahassee Open Florida 80,000 United States Ed Sneed (3) Alternate event
Apr 24 First NBC New Orleans Open Louisiana 175,000 United States Jim Simons (1)
May 1 Houston Open Texas 200,000 United States Gene Littler (29)
May 8 Byron Nelson Golf Classic Texas 200,000 United States Raymond Floyd (9)
May 15 Colonial National Invitation Texas 200,000 United States Ben Crenshaw (5) Invitational
May 15 Oklahoma City Open Oklahoma 45,000 United States Tom Storey (n/a) Second Tour[b]
May 23 Memorial Tournament Ohio 225,000 United States Jack Nicklaus (64) Invitational
May 29 Atlanta Classic Georgia 200,000 United States Hale Irwin (8)
Jun 5 Kemper Open North Carolina 250,000 United States Tom Weiskopf (13)
Jun 12 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic Tennessee 200,000 United States Al Geiberger (10)
Jun 19 U.S. Open Oklahoma 200,000 United States Hubert Green (12) Major championship
Jun 26 Western Open Illinois 200,000 United States Tom Watson (7)
Jul 3 Greater Milwaukee Open Wisconsin 130,000 United States Dave Eichelberger (2)
Jul 9 The Open Championship Scotland £100,000 United States Tom Watson (8) Major championship[c]
Jul 10 Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities Open Illinois 125,000 United States Mike Morley (1) Alternate event
Jul 17 Pleasant Valley Classic Massachusetts 250,000 United States Raymond Floyd (10)
Jul 24 Canadian Open Canada 225,000 United States Lee Trevino (22)
Jul 31 IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic Pennsylvania 200,000 United States Jerry McGee (2)
Aug 7 Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open Connecticut 210,000 United States Billy Kratzert (2)
Aug 14 PGA Championship California 250,000 United States Lanny Wadkins (4) Major championship
Aug 21 American Express Westchester Classic New York 300,000 United States Andy North (1)
Aug 28 Colgate Hall of Fame Golf Classic North Carolina 250,000 United States Hale Irwin (9)
Sep 4 Buick Open Michigan 100,000 South Africa Bobby Cole (1) Alternate event
Sep 5 World Series of Golf Ohio 400,000 United States Lanny Wadkins (5) Limited-field event
Sep 11 B.C. Open New York 200,000 United States Gil Morgan (1)
Sep 25 Ohio Kings Island Open Ohio 150,000 United States Mike Hill (3)
Oct 2 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic California 200,000 United States Miller Barber (10)
Oct 16 San Antonio Texas Open Texas 150,000 United States Hale Irwin (10)
Oct 23 Southern Open Georgia 125,000 United States Jerry Pate (4)
Oct 30 Pensacola Open Florida 125,000 United States Leonard Thompson (2)
Nov 6 Walt Disney World National Team Championship Florida 200,000 United States Gibby Gilbert (3) and
United States Grier Jones (3)
Team event

Unofficial events

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The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date Tournament Location Purse
($)
Winner(s) Notes
Sep 17 Ryder Cup England n/a Team USA Team event
Dec 11 World Cup Philippines 4,200 Spain Seve Ballesteros and
Spain Antonio Garrido
Team event
World Cup Individual Trophy 2,100 South Africa Gary Player

Money list

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The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[2][3]

Position Player Prize money ($)
1 United States Tom Watson 310,653
2 United States Jack Nicklaus 284,509
3 United States Lanny Wadkins 244,882
4 United States Hale Irwin 221,456
5 United States Bruce Lietzke 202,156
6 United States Tom Weiskopf 197,369
7 United States Raymond Floyd 163,261
8 United States Miller Barber 148,320
9 United States Hubert Green 140,255
10 United States Billy Kratzert 134,758

Awards

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Award Winner Ref.
PGA Player of the Year United States Tom Watson [4]
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy) United States Tom Watson [5]

Notes

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  1. ^ The number in parentheses after each winner's name is the number of PGA Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for PGA Tour members.
  2. ^ a b Official money; unofficial win.
  3. ^ Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References

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  1. ^ "1978 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "The Top money-winners in 1977". Progress Bulletin. Pomona, California. November 13, 1977. p. 51 (52 in paper). Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Watson's $310,653 third best on all-time PGA money list". Valley News. Van Nuys, California. November 2, 1977. p. 28 (2 in paper). Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Watson Named Player of Year". The Kansas City Times. Kansas City, Missouri. November 24, 1977. p. 102. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Another trophy for Watson". Birmingham Evening Mail. Birmingham, United Kingdom. December 7, 1977. p. 30. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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